


The Assignment

by zaywrites



Category: Chenry, Henry Danger (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-12 00:52:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18435647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zaywrites/pseuds/zaywrites
Summary: In this Henry Danger AU, Charlotte Paige from a young age is recruited by The Academy, a secret organization dedicated to taking in children with nowhere else to go and training them to become their "Agents", who go out and serve The Academy on what ever it needs. On her 17th birthday, Charlotte Is finally old enough to receive her first mission. However, what she does not know is that this particular mission will change everything.





	1. 17th Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Charlotte Paige, a student at The Academy. Today is her 17th birthday and she will receive her first ever mission. However, her assigned mission was not what she expected.

_Fire. It's everywhere._

_I don't know what to do._

Charlotte finally regains consciousness as she looks around frantically at the burning house before her. All of her memories and all of her childhood being lit up mercilessly by the hungry flames. She looks down at her small body to see that she is covered in ash from head to toe, and she questions how she even survived the explosion. One minute, her mother was telling her a bedtime story and the next -- absolute darkness. Her tiny heart is practically beating right out of her chest, but young Charlotte knew if she just laid there allowing her fears to get the better of her, the flames will consume her as mercilessly as they did her house. So Charlotte pulled herself together, got up from the ash-covered carpet, and began to look for a way out. 

What seemed like an eternity of searching, Charlotte feared that she may never escape. Her throat had began to burn profoundly, so to accommodate she started taking smaller and smaller breaths until she was on the brink of fainting due to severe oxygen loss. At this point, it seemed like it was all over for Charlotte, and her life barely even began. 

"C-Charlotte...?" A familiar voice called out. 

_I know that voice._

_It's her_.

* * *

 

"NO!" Charlotte screams from the top of her lungs, as she looks hysterically around the room. Her breathing is fast and shallow, and her heart is racing a million beats per second. Charlotte looks down at herself and notices that she's covered in sweat and her throat is dry and itchy. After a few seconds, she realizes that she is still safe and sound in her dorm room, and her heart begins to beat once again at a normal rhythm and her body returns to its normal state. 

"Char? What's wrong?" Charlotte turns her head to see her roommate, Meria, with a sleepy yet concerned look on her face. She probably had around twenty sheets of paper scattered all over her desk with markings that barely made any sense, and pencil shavings sprinkled all over her lap and around the floor. Her loosely curled, jet black dyed hair with bright red tips was messy and chaotic, and her usual light soft brown skin was pale and ashy. It seems as though she stayed up all night working on her essay for Mrs. Smith's English class because even with her glasses on, Charlotte could clearly see she had swollen bags under her eyes and was visibly drained. She was definitely in desperate need of a long nap. 

"Everything is fine Ria, just...j-just mind your business," Charlotte says tiredly, as she turns to look at the time.

_It's 7:30 am. Breakfast time._

"This is like the fifth time you've woken up screaming. You good?" Ria asks, her concern shining through her exhausted voice. She was right, and Charlotte knew it. She'd been having the same nightmare over and over again all this week and she knew perfectly why -- today is her 17th birthday. Here at The Academy, once a young student reaches the age of 17, they receive their first assignment. This assignment is usually very difficult, both physically and emotionally on a young pupil. It decides what rank you will be placed in as an Agent of The Academy, and how your life will proceed onward. Here at The Academy, there are six rankings: 

  1. Gold - The highest and most honorable ranking you can receive. Very rare, and only a select few get placed into Gold status.
  2. Red - Second highest. Still highly respectable and rare to get into. 
  3. Blue - Third highest, and the average placing here at The Academy. 
  4. Green - Below average, though still decent. 
  5. Yellow - Laughable rank, and not many people score this low. 
  6. Bronze - Might as well drop out and search for work elsewhere. 



Despite being excited to finally receive her first mission after waiting for years from the moment she set foot in the school, earlier this week Charlotte began to feel very anxious, and that's precisely when the reoccurring nightmares began. 

"I'm fine, Ria. Let it go." Charlotte says, dismissively.

"Nah, that's how I know you AIN'T good, Char. You want to know why? 'Cause you never speak. Right now is literally the most you've said to me in a week." 

Charlotte rolls her eyes and begins to get ready for the day. After a cool shower to take the edge off, she dresses in her uniform. A white, buttoned up collared shirt, a black blazer with a grey emblem of a wolf with a snake wrapped around it, a red and white plaid skirt which Charlotte hated wearing, and black dress shoes with small two inch heels. After getting dressed, Charlotte caresses her hand over the emblem softly, admiring it. Once she receives her score from the mission, there will be a ceremony to dye the grey background to the color of her rank. Charlotte knows there is no chance in hell she would ever be a Gold, but she can't help but entertain the thought.  

Charlotte starts to head out the door when Ria grabs her arm preventing her from leaving. 

"Charlotte, talk to me. I know you hate doing that but--" Before Ria could even finish her sentence, Charlotte grabs her hand, twists it, then grabs Ria's neck and pushes her up against the nearest wall. Ria is taller than Charlotte, so doing so was a bit difficult but still manageable. Ria is visibly startled. 

"First of all, do not **EVER** touch me again. Second of all, I told you to mind your business. If you keep poking your nose into mine I'll break your jaw and shove it so far down your throat that you'll shit bones for a week. Do you understand me?" Ria nods her head violently and Charlotte lets her go. She then leaves the dorm and heads down to breakfast, without ever looking back at Ria.

 

* * *

 

When Charlotte finally arrives to the cafeteria, she takes a look around and sees that she's definitely late to the scene. Practically the whole school was down here -- over 500 students -- and that only meant one thing.

_It's fucking bacon day._

Charlotte sighs as she makes her way to the salad bar and just grabs an apple for the day; she didn't feel like dealing with the first years again. She finds an empty table and sits alone to eat. A few minutes go by before she hears someone call out her name. 

_Oh god, it's Amelia._

Amelia was Charlotte's previous roommate before she moved out after getting her assignment last year. After she had been ranked a Red which even though it was no Gold, she had gained her lots of respect and honor and she now serves The Academy on various missions, which means she barely gets time to herself. This was a relief to Charlotte, because she most definitely did not want to see her anyway. 

"Charlotte!" Amelia calls out again, and Charlotte pretends not to hear her. Amelia then gives up and just joins her at the table. 

"Hey, Charlotte. Did you hear me calling you?" Amelia asks, practically oozing her desperation through her voice. Charlotte looks at Amelia, and noticed she had definitely changed from the last time she saw her. Her dark brown skin was covered in cuts and bruises, presumably from her missions, and she had straightened her tightly curled hair and dyed it blonde, with loosely curled bangs. Her grey emblem was also now dyed a beautiful bright red, showing off her proud ranking. Before she had gotten her assignment, Amelia was small and very scrawny. Now her muscles where practically bursting out of her Red status uniform -- a leather jacket with red tracing, black leather jeans and a white crop top. Of course every Agent got to pick what they wore, but the leather jacket with the colored tracing of your rank was mandatory.

Charlotte doesn't answer her and simply continues to eat her apple. 

"Okay. Well I'm back for a little while now, so I decided to come visit you. I was wondering maybe we can--" Amelia starts, but Charlotte cuts her off.

"Okay look, Mel. You're nice and a cool person, but that's all. I know because of that night you thought something else but I promise you, it was nothing more than that to me. I'm sorry," Charlotte gets up from her seat and throws her apple away, "I'm late to class."

 

* * *

 

Charlotte could barely focus on whatever bullshit Mrs. Smith was saying about Shakespeare. She was too busy anxiously thinking about what her assignment could be. Before Amelia had moved out, she had told Charlotte that her assignment was the hardest task she ever had to do. She was assigned to murder the mayor of a nearby town, so that someone from The Academy could replace him and gain power. To do so, she snuck into his house late at night, and slit his throat while he was sleeping. Amelia had said how hard it was for her to just coldly murder someone, the only other time she had done so was to defend herself. 

Another boy Charlotte knew, Jordan, was tasked to slip cyanide into the tea of a visiting ambassador of another country. However, Jordan got caught and ended up failing his mission. He received Bronze status and was practically shunned by The Academy, and now serves fifty five years on attempted murder. This, was Charlotte's worst fear. 

"Charlotte Paige! Care to rejoin the class?" Charlotte snaps back into reality and finds the entire class including Mrs. Smith staring at her. Charlotte just nods and Mrs. Smith continues on with her boring lecture. 

 

* * *

 

Now that class was finally over, it was time to train. This was Charlotte's favorite part of the day, as she got to release any built up anger she inevitably collected throughout the day. She also got to change out of her dumb ass uniform for two and a half hours, and is now rocking black leggings and a sports bra. 

"Hey Char, wanna train with me?" Charlotte turns her head and finds Amelia standing with a long black stick in her hand. She had changed out of her Red status uniform into a grey shirt and yellow shorts. 

"Amelia, I already told you--" Charlotte starts but just as she did earlier, Amelia cuts her off.

"No, don't even say anything. I get it. It was a one time thing," Amelia smiles and extends her hand out to Charlotte, "Friends?" 

Charlotte can't help but smile back.

"Friends." 

Charlotte takes her hand but as soon as she does, Amelia twists it and pushes Charlotte with her other hand down to the floor. Once she's down Amelia quickly brings the long black stick up to Charlotte's neck, preventing her from getting back up. 

"Hey!" Charlotte yelled, her back now sore from the sharp drop to the floor.

"Rule number one: Always keep your guard up." Amelia then starts laughing and Charlotte can't help but laugh too. 

"C'mon get up, it's obvious you have a lot to learn from me," Amelia teases. 

"Oh whatever, you just caught me off guard!" Charlotte rebuttals. 

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really!"

"Well then," Amelia slowly and dramatically opens her arms wide, "Prove me wrong."

"Gladly."

 

* * *

 

After a long training session with Amelia, Charlotte was starving. Though she wasn't even sure if she could eat, she had grown anxious again. It was nearing the end of the day and the Headmistress, leader of The Academy, still hasn't called her down to receive her assignment. 

_No Charlotte, they didn't forget about you. They never forget about anyone. Just because you never talk doesn't mean you're invisible. You'll get called down eventually._

Charlotte sits down at an empty table alone, as always. Dinner was different than breakfast-- at breakfast you got to choose what you ate however at dinner, expert nutritionists hired by the Headmistress herself design a specific meal plan for each student. Headmistress says she wants all of her students to be as healthy as possible. We were training to become her deadly Agents of The Academy after all. 

Not too long after Charlotte sat down, Ria joins her. 

"Hey, I saw you talking with Amelia earlier. She's back?"

Charlotte is caught off guard for a second, surprised that Ria is even talking to her after the exchange they had this morning.

"Uh, yeah she is. Only for a little bit though. She is a Red, so she's pretty busy." 

"That makes sense. I hope I get a chance to talk to her before she goes. I want to give her this letter." Ria pulls out a white envelop with a red heart seal from her backpack. It reads "To Amelia" on the front. 

_Does Ria have a crush on Amelia? I hope she doesn't know about--_

"I know what you're thinking about Char. And yes, I do know. But it was a one time thing right?" Ria asks.

Once again, Ria has caught Charlotte off guard. "Uh, yeah. Yeah it was." 

"Good."

The food finally arrives and relieves the awkward tension building between them. Ria gets a salad with a side of low fat ranch and Charlotte gets a t-bone steak with mash potatoes. 

"A salad? Really? Again? I swear Headmistress probably just can't handle how thick I am. Or maybe she's jealous, I'll take it as jealousy. Or maybe--" Ria goes on and on and Charlotte ends up just drowning her out. She pokes at her T-bone steak. It's the fourth time this week she's gotten one, and despite being a religious meat lover she's frankly tired of getting the same thing over and over again. She couldn't even enjoy it anyway since she's so anxious about her assignment. Usually by now students would have received their assignment and Charlotte is wondering why it's taking so long for her. 

_Maybe Headmistress really did forget about me._

"...and that's why I will NEVER run naked in an open football field on Christmas ever again. Anyways enough about me, how has your day been roomie?" Ria looks at Charlotte with a big grin on her face.

"Honestly Ria, I really don't feel like talking right now." 

"O-Oh okay that's cool. You never really do anyway. Did you get your assignment yet?"

Charlotte sighs. "No, not yet."

"What? Usually by now students get them. Amelia got hers at breakfast last year."

"Yeah, I'm aware Meria. I don't know why it's taking so long with me."

"Well, don't give up hope. I'm sure Headmistress will get to you eventually. She's probably just caught up with something."

"Yeah, maybe."

The bell rings signalling dinner is over. All the students get up and go back to their dorms, and gets ready for nights out. Ria and Charlotte walk back together to their dorm, and Ria is telling some story about how her cousin married an alligator. They finally arrive to their door when one of the servants of Headmistress calls Charlotte's name.

"Charlotte Paige. You have been summoned by the Headmistress to receive your assignment. Follow me." 

A rush of adrenaline surges through Charlotte as an overwhelming feeling of joy consumes her every thought.

_Headmistress didn't forget about me after all._

Charlotte turns to Ria and she winks at her, then nudges her in the direction of the servant. 

"Go get 'em tiger."

Charlotte can't help but smile as she turns back to the servant and follows him to the Headmistress's office. He opens the door and let's Charlotte in.

Charlotte has never seen this room, just as many other students. Though it was unlike anything Charlotte imagined. The room was full of bookshelves of books, topics ranging from basic martial arts to various poison mixing recipes. Headmistress's desk lied in the center near the back of the room, and Headmistress sat in front of her desk elegantly. Charlotte had only ever seen the Headmistress twice in her life, from the moment she brought her to The Academy and right now. Both times, she's was completely blown away by her beauty. She was wearing a long bright red dress that fit snugly on her body, and the color complemented her dark brown skin perfectly. Her hair was up in a bun, however she let some of her tight curls flow loosely which she somehow pulled off as no one else would.  

"H-Hello. My name is--" Charlotte begins, but Headmistress holds up her finger, silencing her. 

"I know who you are, Charlotte Paige. I know who everyone of my students are. But you, you're something different. I can tell." Her English accent was as smooth as butter. Headmistress turns and grabs a thick book from her desk, then opens and turns the pages. When she finally finds the page she was looking for, she smiles. 

"I understand it's your 17th birthday today, correct?"

"Y-yes, Headmistress." Charlotte could feel her voice trembling but she prayed Headmistress couldn't hear how nervous she was. 

"Well, Charlotte, I guess it's time to give you your first assignment." She pauses for a moment, then continues,"Charlotte Elizabeth Paige. You're assignment is to--"

_Oh god, here we go. Do I have to poison someone like Jordan? Slit someone's throat like Amelia?_

_What if it's worse?_

"--steal a book."

"Uh, I'm sorry. What?" Charlotte feels all her anxiety leave her body as it's replaced by confusion.

"Your assignment is to steal a book." Headmistress reaffirms. 

"...that's it? A book? Forgive me, Headmistress, but I thought maybe...I dunno...it would be--"

"Something more interesting?" Headmistress says, finishing Charlotte's sentence, "Well I can assure you Charlotte, this is no ordinary book you can just get from Barnes and Noble. This book contains so many secrets and ideas about science that we will never be able to figure out on our own. We need that book to maintain our power in this community, so I can assure you Charlotte this assignment will be the most important thing you've ever done. Do you understand?" 

"Of course, Headmistress."

"Good. Oh, and one more thing," Headmistress says as she turns back to the thick book and rips out a sheet of paper, then hands it to Charlotte.

"Have you ever heard of a town called, Swellview?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAHHH! MY FIRST CHENRY FANFIC IN YEARS! haha yes! this chapter was mostly world building so sorry we didn't get to see henry and charlotte interacting in this part. however, henry will be the pov in chapter 2! also i hope u peeped how i casually made charlotte bi, lmao. amelia's character was originally going to be a boy named adam, but i was like "why not make it gay?" so i did LMAOOOO. but anyways, thats all i have to say. thanks for reading my edgy ass fanfic of a kids show lmaooooo, and hopefully i can update soon. <3


	2. The Thief

_It's 3am._

 

_Why the fuck am I still awake?_

 

Henry lies on his unusually uncomfortable bed and stares up blankly at the ceiling. He had been lying there for hours now, unable to fall asleep. He tried everything -- from drinking warm milk to finishing all of his homework, which he almost never does. He reaches up and touches his cheek, which is now dry and cracked from the salty tears that ran down his face not moments before. He turns to his nightstand and grabs his phone, unlocks it, and a picture of _her_ shines through the piercing darkness of night.

_Bianca._

He sighs and turns his phone off. A few days ago, his girlfriend, or ex-girlfriend now, had broken up with him because he was "never able to commit". He still doesn't understand what she meant since he thought they were doing well together. Very well, actually. She was sweet and kind, and everything about her was just...perfect. Maybe a little too perfect as it seems, since he never truly felt he could be himself around her. Henry instead just did everything she wanted him to do: hand holding, soft kisses on her cheek, opening the door for her, using his "manners", etc. but all those things felt so artificial, almost as if deep down Henry knew he never really wanted to do those things just from the bottom of his heart. It always felt like a chore keeping up with her demands, and eventually she must've caught on with how he was feeling. He did care for her though; after their breakup he spent the last few days locked up in his room sobbing and watching reruns of Drake and Josh. 

_I need a drink._

He sluggishly gets up from his bed and somehow makes his way downstairs and to the kitchen, his eyesight still blurred from his tears. He searches for the good red wine his mother always secretly drinks whenever his father would do something to annoy her, which was basically all the time. He finds it, and sets it on the counter. He grabs a glass as well but as soon as he gets a hold of it, he hears a loud screeching voice coming from the living room. Henry knew exactly who that voice belonged to.

"HENRY? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Piper, his little sister, calls out. Henry drops the glass in fright, and it shatters all over the kitchen floor. 

"Shit! Uh...nothing Piper! What the hell are you even doing up? It's three in the morning," Henry says, annoyed, as he picks up the broken glass pieces and places them in the trash. 

"I'm watching reruns of Friends, duh. The good episodes only come on after midnight," Piper says as she rolls her eyes and turns back to the TV. Henry sighs and puts the wine back in the cupboard and opts for a glass of warm milk instead, the fourth one he's had all night. After pouring a warm glass, he joins Piper in the living room. 

"Still down in the dumps I see. Let me guess...Bianca?" Piper gives Henry a concerned yet judgy look.

"Yeah. I mean, I really did like her. She was nice and pretty and her hair always smelt like roses and we--" Henry starts, but Piper quickly interrupts him.

"Oh no, don't mistake that as me caring about your love life, bro. I was just looking for a yes or no answer."  She grabs the remote and turns the TV volume up higher. They sit in silence for a while as they watch Ross and Rachel once again bickering about whether or not they were on a break. 

"I really thought me and Bianca was going to be the next Ross and Rachel y'know..." Henry mumbles out. Piper then abruptly sits up as if a surge of energy just rushed through her veins, puts the TV on mute, and swiftly turns to Henry.

"W-What did you just say? No seriously, what the hell did you just say Henry?"

"Whoa Piper, jeez. All I said was that I really thought Bianca and I was going to be the the next Ross and Rach--" As Henry was explaining himself, he suddenly felt a sharp sting rush across his face, and Henry looks up realizing Piper had just slapped him. 

"Dude what the hell? What the fuck was that for?"

"Ross and Rachel were toxic as God knows what, Henry. You definitely DO NOT want a relationship like that," Piper's expression softens as she relaxes back into the couch. "Look, If we're comparing ourselves to Friends now I would much rather have a relationship like Monica and Chandler. They actually worked for each other and wasn't toxic in any way." Piper sighs as she makes dead eye contact with Henry.

"Henry, let's be honest here, Bianca wasn't the girl for you. I know it, you know it, the whole WORLD knew it. Even as an outsider, EVERYBODY could see how miserable you were with her, even though you did care about her a lot. Every time you were around her you lose some of your natural goofy self that I actually like about you, bro. She made you into something that SHE wanted, and didn't accept you as the person you already were. I could see how needy she was and that wasn't fair to you. Bianca breaking up with you was probably the best decision she's made since seeing you. And that's the honest truth." 

Henry is stunned. He has no idea what to say.

"Sorry bro, just had to tell it to you straight. Since no one else would." Piper then returns her focus back to her TV screen. 

Even though she could have said it nicer, deep down Henry knew she was right. Despite actually caring for Bianca, she was definitely turning him into something that he wasn't, and it was probably the best for the both of them that he moved on.

* * *

The next day was long and hard. Working off only forty minutes of sleep, Henry knew it wasn't long until he collapsed from exhaustion. He met up with Jasper, his long time childhood friend, at school as he talked Henry's ear off about how his love for buckets has recently resurfaced. Henry unfortunately had to drown him out; any energy put towards pretending to care about whatever Jasper was saying would most definitely jeopardize his already fragile consciousness. 

Finally as the school day concluded, he headed over to work at the Mancave. He left Jasper upstairs in Junk n Stuff and headed downstairs through the elevator to start his shift. As the elevator doors opened, he finds his boss Ray and their science guy Schwoz in a heated argument. 

"Oh come on Schwoz, just let me read it! Just one little peak!" Ray whines as he reaches out to grab a thick book Schwoz is holding so close to his chest. 

"No!" Schwoz shouts as he slaps Ray's hand away. "This book is way too important, Ray. It contains so many secrets to mankind I myself can't even begin to fathom. It's been in my family for so long and I can't trust you to read it and not go blab it off to the next hot chick you find in the street just to seem cool and edgy!" Schowz barks out. He then proceeds to lock the book in a metal container and slides it under the couch, then places the key in his pocket.

"C'mon Schwoz! It even has a cool name! 'The Mystics of Mankind'.....dude that's totally sounds like something I should be reading!"

"No, Ray! Just give it up!" Schwoz is clearly annoyed at this point.

"Oh please, Schwoz! Just a few sentences! I even heard you mention to your horse sister that the book can grant wishes too! Is that true?"

"W-What? No it doesn't! I...uh...look it's Henry!" Schwoz quickly dismisses Ray's question and shifts his focus to a confused Henry, trying to decipher what the hell is going on.

"Oh my God Henry! When did you get here?" Schwoz continues.

"Uh, just a few seconds ago. What the hell are you too arguing--actually you know what? I'm too tired to care." Henry rolls his eyes and plops down on the couch, grabs a pack of Doritos from his backpack and starts munching down. Ray sighs dramatically, knowing he's probably never going to read Schwoz's weird book and goes back up the elevator to Junk n Stuff. Schwoz's anxiety seems to lift as soon as Ray leaves, and he continues tinkering on some project he had be working on for weeks.

All is good for a couple of hours, and Henry even catches up on some sleep he's been desperately missing. That is until right around sundown, an alarm blares through the Mancave's speakers as everybody rushes down to see what emergency could be happening this late. 

"If it's that cat lady again talking about how Mr. Whiskers is stuck in a tree again I'm going to LOSE it." Ray says, angrily. Schwoz pulls up the emergency alert: a hospital has been partially blown up, and the police and firefighters are having trouble getting everyone out. 

"Holy shit," Henry says under his breath. He makes eye contact with Ray and it's clear he feels the same way. Jasper and Schwoz are visibly shaken, unable to speak. They all stand there for a few seconds not saying a word, just bathing in their disbelief of such a cruel act.

"Who would do something like this for no reason?" Jasper says, breaking the silence.

"I don't know, but lets hope no one was hurt," Ray says, as he pops a bubblegum in his mouth. Henry does the same and they head out up the tubes to help. 

* * *

When Henry and Ray arrive on scene, they look around and see that it was a lot worse than they had originally realized. 

"Captain Man! Kid Danger! Over here!" A police officer calls out to them. They run over and the police officer begins to debrief them. 

"So far we're not sure what caused the explosion, only that it happened in the south wing of the hospital where luckily, most of the patients who are getting ready to leave the hospital go. Whoever did this was careful in not harming more people than they needed to."

"Any injured? Or...dead?" Ray asks. 

"None from the hospital. Though there was a family who unfortunately was walking by and got hit by the debris, their youngest daughter being hurt the most. She's in a coma." As the police goes on explaining the situation, Henry feels a weird chill on the back of his neck. 

_Someone is watching me._

Henry looks around but doesn't see anyone, just the chaos of fellow police officers and firefighters working hard to get the rest of the patients out of the burning hospital. 

"That was weird," Henry accidentally mumbles out.

"What was?" The police officer asks.

"Oh uh, that um, the perpetrator just blew up the hospital for no reason. There has to be some type of reason, right?" Henry looks at Ray and he nods in agreement.

"Yeah, there has to be. But first let's work on getting these people out safely." 

They work for hours, and as they finally get the last person out, Henry is physically exhausted from all the manual labor. He ended up having to do most of everything himself since Ray got distracted midway through and started chatting up some hot nurse, per usual. Henry walks up to Ray and shoves him, letting his anger with him be known.

"Hey! What was that for?" 

"You know what that was for."

Ray sighs and places his hands on Henry's shoulders. 

"Okay look, sorry I got distracted here but I was honestly going to help more! I swear! But Henry, just look at her!" Ray turns Henry towards the nurse and Henry just sighs in annoyance.

"Whatever Ray, let's just go. We, or I, finished our job."

"Actually...I'm going to be going home with the hot nurse tonight. If you know what I--"

"EW, GROSS! Dude yes I know what you mean! Jeez, please don't describe it. Just...do what you want. I'm heading back to the Mancave." Henry pushes Ray's arms off his shoulders and leaves.

* * *

Henry arrives to the Mancave down the tubes, still irritated at Ray's childish behavior, and finds everything is dark. The power has gone out.

_What happened?_

Henry then hears mumbling coming from the computer area of the Mancave. He rushes over and finds Jasper out cold with a bloody nose and Schwoz with a swollen eye. The metal container that held Schwoz's family book "The Mystics of Mankind" had been broken into, the book now nowhere to be found. Schwoz's eyes are wide and full of fear, as his muffled screams can barely go anywhere with a thick piece of duck tape over his lips.

"Schwoz, what hap--" Henry starts, but is cut off by a sharp pain on the right side of his head. Someone just kicked him.

He turns around, and finds a figure dressed in all black. Presumably the thief that did all of this. 

"Who are you?" Henry asks, but the thief doesn't say a word as he punches Henry in the gut, causing him to fall to the ground. The thief then turns to leave, but Henry grabs his foot and he falls to the ground as well. The thief's backpack then falls open, allowing Schwoz's book to fall out as well. They both scramble to get back on their feet, and pop up at the same time. Henry throws a punch and lands it right in the thief face. Henry then throws another punch, but is quickly blocked, as the thief grabs Henry's arm and twists it downwards. Henry then uses his other hand to pull the thief's black scarf covering his nose and mouth from his face, and his black hood falls off as well. 

The thief's tightly curled hair falls to his shoulders, and Henry observes his nose dripping with blood onto his dark thick lips, right where Henry punched him just moments before. 

_Wait a minute--_

_"..._ you're a girl?" Henry's genuine confusion bleeds off his words, but the intruder doesn't seem to be fazed.

"Yeah? And you're unconscious." 

"Wait wha--" Before he could even finish his sentence, she punches Henry in the bridge of his nose right in between his eyes, and Henry slams to the ground. Just before Henry loses consciousness, he sees the thief pick up the book where she dropped it and place it back into her backpack. Then she swiftly exits through the elevator.

_Who was that girl?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh finally a new chapter! sorry for the delay, I was super busy this week and also felt very unmotivated to do anything. but i hope you enjoy this chapter!! thanks again for reading!!!


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